Luggage case



Dec. 5, 1939. G H HEARY 2,182,604

LUGGAGE CASE Filed Oct. 27, 1957 awe/v TOR 6502s: h. WHEARY "Arro IVEY Yatented Dec. 5, 1939 UNITED STATES LUGGAGE CASE George H. Wheary, Racine, Wis., assignor to Wheary Trunk Company, Racine, Wis.

Application October 27, 1937, Serial No. 171,200

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to luggage cases wherein the case consists of upper and lower members, the upper member being usually somewhat less in depth than the lower member and 6 being hinged to the lower member so it may be opened lid or door like.

My invention may also be applied to wardrobe trunks and the like wherein strength, utility and appearance are most important factors.

The objects of the present invention are to provide hand and wardrobe cases which are light, strong, easily and cheaply manufactured and attractive and neatin appearance.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a case wherein a portion or portions of the case may be covered by contrastingly different materials and providing a metal molding strip adapted to cover the joint between these materials, the strip being secured to the walls of the case by means of suitable bolts or rivets.

The present invention provides means whereby the ends or top and bottom may be made of leather or any other suitable material having if desired a different'color than the body portion of the case which may be covered by suitable fabric material, preferably of a lighter color than the top and bottom or ends.

The present invention differs radically from the common well known case of the type which usually is protected at the corners by means of leather strips, the strips being sewed to the case and thus the case is weakened by the multiplicity of closely spaced openings made for the sewing cord. This construction weakens the body of the case and tends to cause the wall to crack along the line of the seam. The stitched edges of the leather are anything but pleasing in appearance and form a sharp offset which often catches and tears the seam.

I provide a case having an exceptionally pleasing appearance because of the molding strips which are preferably chromium plated, thus to contrastingly set apart the portions of the case K on opposite sides of the strip. To these and other useful ends my invention consists of parts and combinations of parts or their equivalents as hereinafter set forth and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a case equipped with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the case as shown in Figure 1, taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fractional section of the case, taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fractional section taken on line 44 of Figure 1.

Fig. 5 is a drawing illustrating fractionally the corner caps and their strips which cover the joints caused by the cut away portions of the covering.

As thus illustrated the bottom section of my improved luggage case is designated in its entirety by reference character A and the top section is designated in its entirety by reference character B. Member B is hingedly mounted on member A at its bottom as at l9, asis customary in luggage cases of the class. r

Section A is provided with a carrying handle which is designated in its entirety by reference character C. I provide the usual means for latching or locking the free side of member B to member A as illustrated in Figure 1. Thus I have shown and described a complete luggage case which is usually provided with holding devices within the case for gowns and other wearing apparel. 7

Members A and B have suitably shaped foundations l0 and H, the edges of which are made to fit together as at [2. These foundations are lined on the inside with decorative fabrics l3 and I4. On the conventional luggage case the outside walls of members A and B are covered in' their entirety by either fabric or leather of the same color and design.

In the present invention I provide two or more coverings of difierent design or color. The center or body portion is covered preferably with a decorative fabric material l5 and it and the top and bottom portions are covered byeither a fabric material or leather I! and I8 and having preferably a darker color than coverings l5 and 16. All of these coverings on the inside and outside of the case are suitably glued to thefoundation or walls of the case. V

In the preferred form of my invention the joint 4 between the top and bottom coverings I! and I8 and the body covering l5 and I6, is made as on lines 20 (see Figures 2 and 5), these lines being spaced a short distance from the top and bottom surface of the case when the case is positioned as shown in Figure 1..

Thus it will be seen that the top andbottom and a narrow strip of the body portion are 'cov-' ered by a material which extends to point 20 and when this covering is made from a darker material than the center covering the 'case will have a very pleasing appearance when supplied with my improved molding strip as will hereinafter appear.

It will be understood that the point of contact 55 between the top and bottom coverings and the central body covering may be differently positioned and that these coverings may also be differently positioned on the case.

My improved molding strip consists of curved body portions 24 and 25 as illustrated in cross section in Figure 3, the edges being bent inwardly as at 26-26, forming base flanges which are spaced apart as illustrated in Figure 3, providing room through which bolt2l extends. Bolt heads 23 are loosely embraced by members 24 and 25, the bolts extending through spaced orifices in the wall of the case and being secured preferably by means of nuts 29 having thereunder washers 30. The object of molding strips 24 and 25 is to cover the joints between the different covering mate-v rials and to add strength to the walls of the case and contrastingly set apart the top and bottom I from the center portion.

Because of the shape of members and 25 they will be very rigid, and since heads 28 are free, the bolts may be moved in the strip so as to align with orifices in the walls of the case and after nuts 29 are tightened, the walls of the case will be considerably strengthened and the edges of the coverings held firmly into position.

It will be noted in Figures 1 and 4 that the ends of members 24 and 25 register. I place a bolt 27 close to each of the ends so as to hold them securely to the case, however, I supply additional means for this purpose in the form of clips 35 having outwardly extending flanges providing means for securely fastening these clips to the walls of the case by means of rivets 36; thus it will be seen that bolts 21 may be spaced a considerable distance apart and still the molding strips will be securely held to the walls of the case, and that the ends of the strips are doubly secured to the edges of the walls.

One of the advantages of applicants molding strip is that it may be used to cover joints between the coverings in any position on the case and provides means whereby various combinations of materials and colors may be used to make the case more attractive and more serviceable;

' and further the application of covering materials will be simplified in that the pieces are small and therefore more easily applied. A further advantage of my improved molding strip is that when covering the case with different materials, the edges of the covering need not be trimmed so perfectly, because they are covered and held firmly in place by theglue and strips.

Luggage case covering materials are quite firm and therefore when the top and bottom coverings are glued to the foundation, V-shaped strips of the coverings must first be cut from the material at each corner, thus forming a joint as at 40 (see Fig. 5). l

I secure a metal cap 4|, on each corner of the case by means of rivets or otherwise, each having a projection 42, which extends to strips 24 and 25 (see Fig. 1), the shape of these strips being as illustrated, so as to cover joint 40. Thus strips 24 and 25 may be positioned any desired distance from the horizontal or vertical ends, extensions 42 being made the proper length to cover joints 40 up to these strips. In addition to the utility value of the caps and strips 4| and 42, the appearance of the case is greatly improved.

Having thus shown and described the preferred form of my invention, I claim:

1. In a portable luggage and wardrobe container; a plurality of pieces of covering material applied to the outer wall surfaces of the container with the edges of said pieces contiguous so that said pieces collectively cover the outer wall surfaces; the outer surfaces of the pieces adjacent to their contiguous edge portions lying in common planes; fastening means supported from the walls of the container at the contiguous edges of the pieces of covering material; heads on said fastening means spaced outwardly from said outer surfaces of the pieces; and metal finishing and reinforcing bands concealing the contiguous edges of the pieces and the heads of the fastening means, said bands having outwardly bulged webs and inturned marginal flanges, the edges of which are spaced apart; said webs and flanges embracing the heads of the fastening means with the flanges engaging under the heads so that the outer surfaces of the flanges adjacent to the webs press against said surfaces of the pieces adjacent to their contiguous edge portions to clamp the same between the flanges of the bands and the walls of the container, substantially cup-shaped members secured over the corners of the container, and anextension from each of said members to the adjacent finishing and reinforcing band and covering the adjacent meeting edges of said pieces of covering material. p

2. In a portable luggage and wardrobe container having outer walls of a material possessing a degree of inherent resiliency: a plurality ofpieces of covering material applied to the outer surfaces of said walls with the edges of said pieces contiguous so that said pieces collectively cover the walls; metal finishing and reinforcing bands concealing the contiguous edges of the pieces, each of said bands having an outwardly bulged web and inturned marginal flanges whose outer surfaces contact the contiguous edge portions of the covering material, the edgesof the flanges being spaced apart and said web and flanges defining a channel; fastening means for securing the bands to the walls, said fastening means having heads and shanks, the headed ends of the fastening .means being slidably received in the channels of the bands to be longitudinally adjustable along the length thereof, and said shanks entering the walls of the container; and meanson said shanks coacting with the heads of the fastening means for compressing the adjacent portions of the walls and clamping the contiguous edge portions of the pieces of covering material to the walls so that the inherent resiliency of the compressed portions of the walls exerts a tensioning force on the shanks of the fastening, means to insure permanent clamping action between the flanges of the bands and the adjacent wall surfaces, substantially cupshaped cap members secured over the corners of the container, and an extension from each cap member to the adjacent finishing and reinforcing band and covering the adjacent meeting edges of said pieces of covering material.

GEORGEI-I. WI-IEARY. 

